Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or its characters :)

Slipping Right Out of Your Hands

Twas early sunday morning and the power was still out all over town. "Guess I went a little crazy blowing up the power lines." Vegeta laughed to himself as he made his way down the stairs and into the living room. The five 'brats' were all squished together on a poorly made bed consisting of a blanket on the ground and one barely covering the top of them. He figured his plan had worked since his daughter was next to Goten and Pan was next to his son, Marron was in the middle. He was no titled Matchmaker, but he was damn proud of his work. The last thing he wanted was seeing his offspring suffer, whether it was over petty arguments or not.

He began his course to the kitchen as he saw his daughter stirring awake. "Good morning, dad."

"Is not. Damn power's still out."

Once she finished wiping her eyes, she focused on her shivering father. "Cold?" She laughed.

"I don't have some boy sweating all over me."

She steered her eyes to her right and saw Goten, fast asleep with his arm stretched over her and barely reaching Marron. She glanced back up to her father but he had already disappeared. At a slow pace, she began to wiggle her body out of the bed, trying not to wake the others, then headed up the stairs to brush her teeth and tidy her hair.

Pan was the second to wake up to the beats of rain tapping the windows. She rolled onto her back and glanced to her left and right. Bra was not there and Trunks was still fast asleep. She slowly sat up and stretched her arms out, releasing a long yawn. As she brought her arms back down, one of them accidently hit the male next to her.

He stirred awake and opened his eyes to see Pan covering her mouth, staring at him.

"Sorry!" She whispered.

He blinked a couple times, not sure what she was apologizing for, then rolled from his stomach and onto his back "What time is it?"

Pan laid back down and stared at the ceiling. "I don't know. Time for you to get a watch."

"Ha ha very funny." He blew his hair from his eyes then looked over to her. "How's your kidney thing doing?"

"It's fine." She put her hand underneath her sweater to see if it the bruise was as sensitive as it was before. "It was really bruised, now it's just yellow."

"I wanna see!" He sounded like a six year old boy eager to magnify ants.

She raised her sweater and shirt abover her stomach so he could view the bruise.

"Ew, put your shirt down Pan." He teased as his father came walking through the living room.

She instantly lowered her shirt and smacked him upside the head in embarrassment. "You asshole!"

He couldn't help but laugh. "Hahaha I'm sorry. Ok let me see it now."

"No! You blew your chance."

As Bra treaded her way down the stairs she could hear hushed voices and laughter from the living room. "Whoa, Trunks, what're you doing?!" She just happened to walk in as her brother was sticking his hand under Pan's shirt, then swiftly removed it as she entered the room.

"It's not what it looks like!" Pan laughed along with Trunks. "He's trying to look at my bruise on my stomach."

"Oh is that what you kids are calling it these days?" She sounded skeptical. "Looked more like him trying to feel you up."

"Who's feeling who up?" They turned their attention to Goten who was rubbing his eyes as he awakened.

"Goten, Trunks is trying to feel up your neice." Bra sat herself on the couch, entertained by the scenario.

Pan glared at her friend for a brief moment. "No he wasn't!"

"He better not be, I'll kick his ass." He released a small yawn, still trying to perceive the situation.

Trunks sat up and tossed a pillow at Goten who obviously had yet to fully awaken since it hit him square in the face. "I'd like to see you try, pretty boy."

Goten scoffed at the challenge. "After breakfast. Speaking of which, what's on the menu?"

"I don't think we can stay that long." Pan interrupted while listening to her voicemails. "My parents want me home by ten and it is... 9:43."

Goten dropped his head back then returned it upright. "Then I guess we should get going." Trunks offered to go upstairs to retrieve Goten's belongings while Pan went to the entrance hall to get her dress from the closet.

"Psst Goten!" Bra whispered as she hopped beside him onto the ground. "Is it just me, or do Pan and Trunks seem to be getting a lot more... friendly towards each other?"

Goten's expression grew skeptical at first, but minimized as he thought it threw. "... Well they're friends... like us."

"Oh come on don't be so naive. We don't do half the stuff they do. They were snuggled on the same couch together last night when we were upstairs. Kami only knows what they did. Plus Trunks seems so... comfortable touching her, like when his hand was in her shirt-"

"Ew I'd rather not hear about that again."

"He wasn't feeling her up, I was just joking. Are you against my brother dating your niece?"Her tone grew defensive.

Before he could answer, Pan returned to the room. "All ready!" She chimed, folding her wrapped dress over her arm.

Bra sat up and gave Pan a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow girly."

"Bye." Goten was getting the feeling that their recent conversation ended on a bad note.

"Bye." She gave a simple pat to his arm and smiled slightly.

"Here's your stuff." Trunks came down the stairs and handed a large clothing bag to Goten, then ended with their 'man hug'. "Bye Pan." He nodded towards her.

She dragged her feet over to him and let him embrace her since she couldn't hug him back with her arms full. "Bye bye." She said in a chipper tone.

Bra glanced at Goten for a brief second to gauge his reaction. He seemed to be analyzing their hug for any signs of intimacy. Trunks pulling her ponytail as she turned to walk away wasn't exactly romantic, but Bra was still convinced that something was going on. As the pair departed from the house, she plopped herself on the couch and released a sigh. Trunks leaned on the back and eyed his sister suspiciously. "What?" She curved her eyebrows in confusion.

Trunks allowed a small smirk to spread onto his lips, causing his sister to shift in discomfort. "You do know that Goten has a girlfriend right?"

Her heart jumped in horror at his words. 'How does he know?' She instantly shook off her horrified expression, as if it hadn't already given her away. "Of course I know that. What are you implying?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I heard you guys whispering to each other last night." He teased.

She thought back to last night as everyone was laying on the blanketed floor waiting for sleep. Her and Goten were quietly talking amongst themselves. "We were just talking." She rolled the words out casually.

"No dear sister, that was flirting. Even Pan thought so."

"Oh yeah? Well you two weren't any angels either. What were you doing on the same couch?" She watched her brother turn from the hunter to the hunted and took this opportunity to probe him for a confession. "AND you two were the last to fall asleep. I heard you guys giggling and slapping each other. Just face it Trunks, you have a thing for Pan-chan."

He released a light chuckle. "Don't try to turn the lime light on me. Just tell me this," His tone and expression grew serious. "How long do you plan on waiting?"

"W-waiting? For what?" She could feel her heart pound heavier and heavier against her chest. She did not like this conversation.

"Goten's in college with a girlfriend he's been seeing for a while. If you wait too long, he's gonna slip right out of your hands."

Bra was absolutely baffled by her brother. Was he just encouraging her to date his best friend?

The following week, Bra had seen a slight cheerier mood from her best friend. Pan was much more talkative at lunch and in class, and she was actually making her own study groups for the upcoming finals. Bra would swear it was because of something that happened between her and her brother, but Pan continues to deny it. Another blow to her theory was Kain Akatsuki.

Bra and Marron found themselves following Pan to his lunch table every day at lunch now. It's not that it was a bad thing, Bra would probably hook up with quite a few of Kain's friends if it wasn't for her crush on Goten. But every day in between classes and after school, Pan was with him. She needed to get to the bottom of this now.

"Cockroach!" Bra threw her arms around her friend's shoulders as she ran up from behind her. School had just gotten out and Pan and Kain had already begun their way towards the school gates.

"Ah! Bra, I swear if you do that one more time-"

"Na a a, Pan-chan, you may want to hold your threats until I reveal to you our weekend plans." Pan remained quiet to allow her to continue. "Saturday night, you, me, Marron, Goten, and Trunks," She put more emphasis on the last name, "go to the movies to see The Unknown."

"Oh..." Pan twisted her face as she thought about something. "Actually I already have plans saturday night." She watched her friends jaw drop. "Yes it is possible for me to have my own life." She joked.

"Well what do you have planned?"

"Me and this guy," She playfully socked Kain's arm. "are going to see the Cougar's game this weekend."

Bra's eyes widened for a moment. "Ohhhh. It's... It's not a date is it?" She whispered in her ear, earning some suspicion from Kain.

"No, Bra, it's not a date." She laughed. "I finally have someone to go see basketball games with." She said accusingly at Bra. She had dragged her to a game before and regretted it the moment it began.

"It's not my fault! Basketball isn't my thing." She defended herself. They had finally approached the parking lot where Kain would usually leave them since he parked on the opposite side of the lot, but today Bra found herself walking alone. "Um, Pan? Car's this way." She laughed to herself, Pan can be so dumb sometimes.

"Oh, ugh I guess I forgot to tell you. Kain's taking me home today." Bra's face wrinkled a tad. "Well we live in the same area... I figured it'd be easier on you since you take me home every day."

Bra quickly shook the expression off her face. "Oh, yeah totally. Ok then I'll see you later, I guess. Um, bye?" She watched her best friend jog back to Kain's side and strike up a humorous converation with him.

'Hey Trunks, I'm not sure what's going on between you and Pan. But if you like her, you better hurry. She just might slip right out of your hands.'